17th Arrondissement - Etoile Batignoles: Paris

The 17th arrondissement is known for the quality of its haute cuisine, but has only a single 3-star restaurant to its name. In a way, that says everything about the quartier you need to know. There is a lot of wealth here. Even substantial wealth. But nothing too showy, please.

Visitors do not normally come here and are, generally, not encouraged to do so. They will only set foot into the 17th when they lose their way around Montmartre cemetery (on the arrondissement's rough eastern edge) or the Arc de Triomphe in the West.

Personally, I have always had a soft spot for the area around the Square des Batignolles. There is a lovely church there, surrounded by cozy cafés and small restaurants. You feel you are not in the posh 17th, perhaps not even Paris at all but in a small market town somewhere in deep provincial France.

And while you are in the area, why not try the award-winning best kebab in Paris? People come to this hole-in-the-wall takeaway place literally from all over Paris. So, do it like the locals: get a sandwich at 43 Rue des Batignolles, sit down in the nearby park on Square des Batignolles – and enjoy!